MELBOURNE — The Devil’s Cinema has been shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award in true crime writing for its portrait of would-be serial killer Mark Twitchell and his “life lived as performance.”

The judges of Australia’s top crime writing prize have a lot of great things to say about the book:

Lillebuen delves into difficult psychological ground, but manages to portray a life lived as performance. … Well judged and chilling. A highly detailed narrative about a puzzling subject. … The depth of research and analysis results in giving credibility to a story so bizarre it might otherwise be relegated to a work of fiction.

This nomination from the Australian Crime Writers Association comes only a few weeks after the book won Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award in non-fiction crime writing.

It’s been a dream run to see this story connect with so many readers and critics, both in North America and now across Australia.

Thank you!